A ton of people are upset about trump's stupid comments about Haiti and Africa. I haven't listened to anything any president of the U.S. capitalist empire has said in decades and I certainly have no interest in engaging comments coming from that orange idiot. I will say that his existence has in many ways let the majority of Europeans in this country somewhat off the hook because now, you can just repudiate him and that is supposed to automatically clear you from the racist reality you also occupy.
The real question isn't what that fool has to say. The real question is why it was so easy for someone like him to become leader of this country in the first place because that answer will explain a lot. It will clarify how this stupid president could ever come to be in the first place and how so many people are not even qualified to reject his idiotic comments beyond emotionalism.
As I've stated numerous times previously, the entire economy of the U.S., and the entire capitalist world, is based and maintained on exploiting Africa. Capitalism itself was fueled by the transatlantic slave trade. The seed money from slavery funded industrialization which built the capitalist system and the infrastructure from hundreds of years of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and structural racism has maintained the capitalist system. Everything from the gasoline your car uses to the construction of the car itself to the sugar and chocolate you eat to the mineral ore that powers your cell phone and lap top are products of exploiting African natural resources. The entire myth of white supremacy (because Europeans know you have accomplished absolutely no more than anyone else on Earth) was created and is carried forward as a methodology to justify that exploitation. If people believe Africans are lazy and ill responsible it becomes much easier to feel nothing for our suffering, especially since the system you pledge loyalty to is the cause of that suffering. On the flip side of that, Africans everywhere must stay repressed to insure the capitalist system continues on. So, your president's ignorant comments about Africa cannot be seen as just a manifestation of his personal ignorance. They must be seen for what they are, a reflection of the core values and history of the capitalist world. If that wasn't true, someone like him could make an ignorant statement and you would be able to intellectually explain to your family, children, friends, co-workers, the correct interpretation of history. Yet, all that has happened in the last several days are empty moral denouncements by people who most likely don't know anymore about Africa than the fool who made the statements.
A year ago, I was in Africa. When my comrades and I took a 12 hour bus ride from Dar es Salaam to Arusha, Tanzania, it was necessary for us to catch the bus at 6am one morning. That meant being on the bus in my seat at 6am. While sitting in that seat, I observed literally thousands of people hustling to catch various buses. These were people who sold oranges for a living. Made shoes from scratch. Students. Domestic workers. The bus station was a virtual jam packed city all at 6am. A time when most people in the U.S. are snoring and having absolutely no intention of doing anything, ever. While I watched that scene, the thought that came to my mind was just how ironic it was that these disciplined and hard working people are the ones that are stigmatized as being lazy and lacking in initiative. These people have more initiative and discipline in their pinky nail than most people in the U.S. will ever have any potential of ever witnessing in their entire lives.
If you can't respond to ignorant comments about the African world by educating your children, friends, family, etc., about the history and day to day accomplishments of people in Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, even Africans in the U.S., etc., than the person making ignorant statements isn't the entire problem. You are just as ignorant about Africa, Haiti, and the rest of the African world and therefore just as much a part of the blame as the person making ignorant comments. There is so much literature about Africa and Haiti available today there is absolutely no reason for anyone to be as woefully ignorant about these places as people are, including Africans - even many born in the Caribbean or Africa. And, for most Africans born in the U.S., knowledge about the international African world is an oblivion. Those of us in this country have been repeatedly told by our enemies that Africa serves no practical purpose in our lives. We sit around and foolishly (and ignorantly) talk about other nationalities and how they are advancing past us. Despite the fact this is not factually true on any level (debate me on this, I dare you), even if we granted you your point on this argument we would respond by saying those people are connected to their motherland in some concrete way while you honestly believe you can achieve forward progress by being completely divorced from your mother.
The best way to defend Africa, Haiti, and all of the African world isn't to react like wounded children when our enemies attack us. Instead, we should be so focused on educating ourselves about who we are that systemic education for our children and communities is automatic. If we had that commitment, what our enemies say about us wouldn't matter in the least. In fact, if we were organized on that type of level, they wouldn't be saying those things in the first place because they would have respect for us. Not respect out of moral maturity, but respect out of necessity.
The assault against Haiti only happens because Haiti is seen as a Western Hemisphere outpost of Africa. The disrespect against Africa happens because the capitalist system needs African people disconnected from our mother. What better way to do that than to continue to demean our homeland in a way that will make us work harder than our enemies to separate ourselves from our mother. Our enemies are supposed to attack us. That's how war and oppression work. What's unusual is how easy and willing we are to support their efforts to undermine us.
The real question isn't what that fool has to say. The real question is why it was so easy for someone like him to become leader of this country in the first place because that answer will explain a lot. It will clarify how this stupid president could ever come to be in the first place and how so many people are not even qualified to reject his idiotic comments beyond emotionalism.
As I've stated numerous times previously, the entire economy of the U.S., and the entire capitalist world, is based and maintained on exploiting Africa. Capitalism itself was fueled by the transatlantic slave trade. The seed money from slavery funded industrialization which built the capitalist system and the infrastructure from hundreds of years of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and structural racism has maintained the capitalist system. Everything from the gasoline your car uses to the construction of the car itself to the sugar and chocolate you eat to the mineral ore that powers your cell phone and lap top are products of exploiting African natural resources. The entire myth of white supremacy (because Europeans know you have accomplished absolutely no more than anyone else on Earth) was created and is carried forward as a methodology to justify that exploitation. If people believe Africans are lazy and ill responsible it becomes much easier to feel nothing for our suffering, especially since the system you pledge loyalty to is the cause of that suffering. On the flip side of that, Africans everywhere must stay repressed to insure the capitalist system continues on. So, your president's ignorant comments about Africa cannot be seen as just a manifestation of his personal ignorance. They must be seen for what they are, a reflection of the core values and history of the capitalist world. If that wasn't true, someone like him could make an ignorant statement and you would be able to intellectually explain to your family, children, friends, co-workers, the correct interpretation of history. Yet, all that has happened in the last several days are empty moral denouncements by people who most likely don't know anymore about Africa than the fool who made the statements.
A year ago, I was in Africa. When my comrades and I took a 12 hour bus ride from Dar es Salaam to Arusha, Tanzania, it was necessary for us to catch the bus at 6am one morning. That meant being on the bus in my seat at 6am. While sitting in that seat, I observed literally thousands of people hustling to catch various buses. These were people who sold oranges for a living. Made shoes from scratch. Students. Domestic workers. The bus station was a virtual jam packed city all at 6am. A time when most people in the U.S. are snoring and having absolutely no intention of doing anything, ever. While I watched that scene, the thought that came to my mind was just how ironic it was that these disciplined and hard working people are the ones that are stigmatized as being lazy and lacking in initiative. These people have more initiative and discipline in their pinky nail than most people in the U.S. will ever have any potential of ever witnessing in their entire lives.
If you can't respond to ignorant comments about the African world by educating your children, friends, family, etc., about the history and day to day accomplishments of people in Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, even Africans in the U.S., etc., than the person making ignorant statements isn't the entire problem. You are just as ignorant about Africa, Haiti, and the rest of the African world and therefore just as much a part of the blame as the person making ignorant comments. There is so much literature about Africa and Haiti available today there is absolutely no reason for anyone to be as woefully ignorant about these places as people are, including Africans - even many born in the Caribbean or Africa. And, for most Africans born in the U.S., knowledge about the international African world is an oblivion. Those of us in this country have been repeatedly told by our enemies that Africa serves no practical purpose in our lives. We sit around and foolishly (and ignorantly) talk about other nationalities and how they are advancing past us. Despite the fact this is not factually true on any level (debate me on this, I dare you), even if we granted you your point on this argument we would respond by saying those people are connected to their motherland in some concrete way while you honestly believe you can achieve forward progress by being completely divorced from your mother.
The best way to defend Africa, Haiti, and all of the African world isn't to react like wounded children when our enemies attack us. Instead, we should be so focused on educating ourselves about who we are that systemic education for our children and communities is automatic. If we had that commitment, what our enemies say about us wouldn't matter in the least. In fact, if we were organized on that type of level, they wouldn't be saying those things in the first place because they would have respect for us. Not respect out of moral maturity, but respect out of necessity.
The assault against Haiti only happens because Haiti is seen as a Western Hemisphere outpost of Africa. The disrespect against Africa happens because the capitalist system needs African people disconnected from our mother. What better way to do that than to continue to demean our homeland in a way that will make us work harder than our enemies to separate ourselves from our mother. Our enemies are supposed to attack us. That's how war and oppression work. What's unusual is how easy and willing we are to support their efforts to undermine us.
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